On Wednesday evenings, Papa Charlie’s transforms into a listening room showcasing the Midwest’s top songwriters in a theater-like setting. The safe and intimate room with great sound gives the audience an opportunity to immerse into the stories and craft of the song.

Dave Simonett has spent almost two decades as the lead singer, guitar player and songwriter for the widely popular and beloved roots band, Tramped By Turtles. He also fronts Dead Man Winter, a bull-bodied, emotionally resonant brand of Americana-infused indie rock band. He now boldly steps forward with a shining collection of new solo material for the first time under his own name called Red Tail.

While Dead Man Winter’s Furnace was a much-needed cathartic experience for Simonett during a dark time, he is not connecting these songs on Red Tail to his own life as he prefers to allow listeners to develop their own interpretations. The conversational and poetic style in which Simonett writes lends itself to this perfectly, inspired by the spacious and stark Northern woods of Minnesota, where he’s from. Drawing from the outdoors, Simonett uses light, weather and imagery to paint introspective, cinematic scenes that are easy to lose yourself in.

Please Note: In an effort to create the listening room environment, we ask all guests in the main room to limit conversation during the performance.